Lyrics

They got money but they never worked a railway line
They got money but they never drove a bus
They got money but they never worked a hospital
They got money but all of that was us

So if you feel intimidated by a higher power
Just stop what you’re doing and right within the hour
You’ll see the power that we got
Is we can make the world stop

We can make the world stop and start again
We can make the world stop
We can make the world stop and start again

They make laws but their laws have never dug for coal
They make laws but have never cleaned a school
They make laws but their laws have never worked the land
They make laws but hey that was me and you

So if you feel intimidated by a higher power
Just stop what you’re doing and right within the hour
You’ll see the power that we got
Is we can make the world stop

We can make the world stop and start again
We can make the world stop
We can make the world stop and start again

We bloody well should
We bloody well should
We bloody well should

Every power that they hold
Every law or block of gold
Every policeman, every jail
Is guaranteed to fail
Everything that they demand
Is a powerless command
Unless we obey
Do what they say
But if we say no way

Is we can make the world stop
We can make the world stop and start again
We can make the world stop
We can make the world stop and start again

Story

We are constantly misinformed that power in any society is held by those with money or those who sit in government.

Of course, that’s nonsense, as any group of workers who take strike action proves.

In any society the real power – social power – belongs to the people who make things happen. And that’s us.

Bosses may own the machinery but they need us to work it. Governments may give out orders, but they are without power if we do not obey.

We are the powerful, and every time we take strike action we pose the question “who governs?”

An awakening of our understanding of the huge amount of power that we hold is the first step to wielding it, and is why I wrote this song. Dedicated to workers everywhere who refuse to lie down and be treated like dirt.